Special Delivery (1978)

A hapless husband neglects to clear the icy walk, which leads to the mailman slipping and breaking his neck. A comedy of errors results from his attempts to hide the body.

Directors:

Eunice Macaulay, John Weldon

Writers:

Eunice Macaulay, John Weldon

Stars:

Sandy Sanderson, Jean Marchand

Won 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sandy Sanderson	...	Narrator (voice)
Jean Marchand	...	Narrator (French version) (voice)

Storyline

Alice Phelps heads off to the gym, reminding her husband Ralph to shovel the snow from the porch. Ralph ignores her and then later finds that the mailman has slipped, broken his neck, and died on their snow- and ice-covered porch. Ralph panics, and what he does with the body (because he's in fear of the letter carriers' union) and what Alice does upon returning home forever change their marriage.

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Plot Keywords:

mailman | marriage | snow | comedy of errors | breaking and entering | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy | Animation

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Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Also Known As:

A fontos küldemény

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

7 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited into 50 for 50: Volume 1, Tape 2: Animation: A Touch of Fantasy (1989)

User Reviews

Delivers

Canadians have a way of twisting noir into humorous shapes.

This one does so both in the story, and more importantly in the way the world is drawn.

The story is an amazingly clever and entertaining journey of right turns. Its more noir than noir and the jags in the story are so extreme they're really funny.

But what makes this valuable is the way that the world, as drawn, complements this. As scenes change, parts of the world melt into and grow from each other. It is itself a series of unexpected causal linkages. See it. Its good.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.